Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Happy Birthday Providence!

Today, June 1st, 2011, the special celebration of Providence's 375-year history (of European settlement) begins. At this morning's ceremony, it was also made clear that the observance recognizes the thousands of years that the Narragansett and other indigenous peoples lived in this place.

Providential Gardener is joining the festivities by organizing a new project,

Where the Gardens Used to Be!

Why the title? WHERE [fill in the blank] USED TO BE is quientessential Rhode Islandese. Rhode Islanders are famous for giving directions in terms of long-gone landmarks. So why not give ourselves more vanished, or perhaps still existing but disguised landmarks that really are LANDmarks, where gardens, farms, and greenhouses have been and still are -- even where gardens could be again -- in the land that is the original Providence Plantation territory?

I'm building a website to collect and display all the information about where people have been growing things in Providence. The next few posts on The Providential Gardener will describe the project in more detail list some of the most well-documented and/or obvious gardens from the past and present. Meanwhile, anyone with information about any farm or garden that has been or is in Providence can email The Providential Gardener with locations and descriptions.